There is nothing that frustrates me more than reading that few people with an NVLD or a similar disability are fully included in sports during the high school years. As my Cross-Country and Track coaches proved 20 years ago, in a sport like running we can have inclusion since it is all about doing your best and supporting all runners. So as you read this I hope you understand why I strongly believe this percentage needs to be so much higher.
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One of the hardest things about having an NVLD can be participating in Physical education, especially at the secondary level. What is often overlooked is that accommodations/modifications can be made for NVLD students to make gym class more enjoyable, and if done correctly, their classmates don’t even know it. This can be done by having a meeting with your gym teacher ahead of time to choose activities you can do for each unit so you won’t be faced with having to choose between two activities that include so many gross motor and hand-eye coordination skills, such as volleyball or Badminton.
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Christmas is hands down, one of my favorite holidays. The twinkling lights, the delicious food, the coziness of watching classical Christmas movies. However, part of having NVLD is feeling overstimulated. Every year, I become a grinch at the thought of family gatherings because I know how depleted and overwhelmed I’d feel.
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Overcoming NVLD, my most challenging years were 7th grade through the beginning of 10th grade. I was becoming more and more aware of my disability since my sister’s achievements were around me quite regularly. For example, she was a starter on the basketball team, so the highlights often included her, and she was Vice President of our school’s service club, so her picture was often in our local paper for that. Due to this, it was hard for me to understand if my teachers and coaches really liked me or just felt sorry for me because I wasn’t gifted like my sister. I struggled to understand that each student has their positives and that each educator and coach enjoys the individual for a different reason.
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I was diagnosed with NVLD at age 19. It was like a lightbulb went off because now my family had answers to all of the questions of why so many things were and still are challenging for me. Ever since I’ve been diagnosed, I’ve been trying to make those challenges not seem so big, and some of them have gotten easier to deal with. I’ve gotten better at reading social cues and body language by asking my parents what they mean when I see them in a TV show. I have also gotten better at doing math in my head by doing addition with easy groupings that equal five, ten, or 15. I have tried to make many, if not all of the challenges easier for me because I know they can be, and I want them to be. Read More
I was diagnosed with NVLD when I was quite young. A speech therapist I saw figured out I had it from doing social skill classes with her. I first talked at 18 months and had typical autistic traits like creativity and dire interests in history facts even in kindergarten and first grade. Another trait I had at a very young age was love of music and being able to properly sing the ABC’s. That’s when my mother thought about getting me a music teacher and finally started at 8 years old.
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My name is Anna, and I was diagnosed with NVLD when I was 12 years old. I had a hard time keeping up with schoolwork, staying organized, daydreaming, and most noticeably, social interactions with my peers. I was very anxious and depressed during that time of my life, and one of my teachers noticed and helped my parents find the right resources to help me keep up with the other students. I ended up switching to a school with a learning resource center and was able to use amenities like extra time on tests, a quiet space, and someone to make sure I wrote down my homework assignments and that I had my books before I went home.
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Hi, my brother Robert has lived with NVLD all his life, he is now 65 years old. However, he was only diagnosed around 15 years ago and by that time it was almost too late to help him with his troubles at work, his social interactions and anxiety, just to name a few. He has little self awareness of his condition which doesn’t help. I remember as a child, my mother used to take him to be tested for dyslexia and to psychiatrists who could couldn’t pinpoint his problem. He is now retired and lives on his own near me.
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One of the reasons why inclusion in sports is so rare is that sports are a privilege, not a right like education is. As a result, inclusion isn’t a common practice for those with NVLD as it requires a lot of resources and effort from the support staff and coaches for something that isn’t a requirement. However, I believe that parents, resource room teachers, counselors, and coaches need to become more open to encouraging those with an NVLD or similar disability to join the appropriate sports team so that more students can enjoy the privilege and reap the benefits of being part of a team too.
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Yes, adults have learning disabilities, too. We don’t outgrow them, we grow into them. I’m not sure who once said that to me but it turned my life around. I was panicked and worried that I could not organize my mind or find the discipline to work at a high-level job. That was so not true. All I needed was support from the people around me and from my colleagues. I now know that one in five adults has a learning disability or mental health diagnosis—probably more than that because people do not disclose their labels.
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